The
.exrc file
(
4.9
)
can set
vi
options for all files - or
for files in a certain directory (
30.6
)
.
The articles listed below show other ways to set your
vi
setup.

A controversial feature because of security problems,
modelines
(
30.19
)
are still handy if you use them carefully.
They let you store setup commands for each file, in the file itself.

Instead of modelines, you can make separate setup files for each file
you want to edit.
These don't have the security problems of modelines because you can make
the setup files read-only.
See article
30.21
.

Article
30.20
lets you choose any one of a number of setups by typing a setup-choosing
command from the shell prompt.
All
vi
commands you start afterwards will use that setup.
You can start a new setup any time.